‘Was asked by Tiwari to hand over CRZ clearance application’

Former deputy secretary of the urban development department (UDD), PV Deshmukh, told the Adarsh Commission that his boss, the then principal secretary Ramanand Tiwari, had instructed him to travel to Delhi to hand over the application for Adarsh Society’s Coastal Regulatory Zone (CRZ) clearance to the environment ministry.

Former deputy secretary of the urban development department (UDD), PV Deshmukh, told the Adarsh Commission that his boss, the then principal secretary Ramanand Tiwari, had instructed him to travel to Delhi to hand over the application for Adarsh Society’s Coastal Regulatory Zone (CRZ) clearance to the environment ministry.

The application was handed over to the joint director of the Ministry of Environment and Forest (MoEF).

Deshmukh was elevated to the post of deputy secretary, urban development, in October 2001. He is being questioned for allegedly sending a notice to the civic body that the MoEF had granted permission for construction of Adarsh building.

The CBI has also claimed that as the deputy secretary, Deshmukh has also signed on green clearance for the society.

The housing society in Colaba is being probed for misuse of authority and position by defence and government officials to obtain flats and for violation of construction and environmental norms. The members of the society are military commanders, politicians, bureaucrats and their relatives.

The commission was set up in January to probe the scam with reference to specific issues, such as land ownership, reservation of the plot, town planning and coastal violations and the role of public servants.